Flexible Mile Motor Insurance

Legacy_user

I have a flexible mile (annual limit 5000 miles) car insurance policy with a major insurance provider. A key element of the insurance offer is that the insurer provides me with monthly mileage statements with information taken directly from the car's OBC. Sadly, this highly technical approach to insurance data goes wrong when someone in the insurer's admin department has to get out a calculator and covert kms into miles, and manually send out an e-mail.. Over the past few months, I have failed to get statements unless I called up about them, and often the statements received have been wrong. For example, a total annual mileage to date figure which exceeded the total miles reading in the car. After raising a complaint, the insurer has apologised and offered me 1000 extra miles of insurance this policy year. My policy is due for renewal next week!

A bit of me says 'ditch them and move on': the other bit says 'keep pressing them over what is a breach of contract.' I am not looking for compensation per se: all I want is some form of guarantee that the terms of the contract will in future be kept in full. Thoughts?

rs65

Hengus wrote: »

A bit of me says 'ditch them and move on': the other bit says 'keep pressing them over what is a breach of contract.' I am not looking for compensation per se: all I want is some form of guarantee that the terms of the contract will in future be kept in full. Thoughts?

Can't say I've ever come across this.

If you're not happy then ditch them. If they did guarantee it is fixed, would you believe them.

caliew

Hi, I have worked in insurance for a number of years and have just left due to childcare reasons. How do they get their readings do you have a telematics box installed? Most underwriters tend to get their annual mileage readings from telematics or utmost good faith from the consumer. If for example you said you are doing 5000 per annum and you write down your annual mileage at the start of the cover and it turned out you were getting very close before the cover ran out perhaps call the insurer and they do the recalculation if the method was done on utmost good faith.

I haven't stumbled across the method you are using before unless its done via a telematics box then that is understandable, but then getting a calculator and manually keying the information when the system goes down I expect is time consuming on your part and on the providers part. You also may want to check with the Insurance Ombudsman or FSCS regulators if by the company offering an extra 1000 miles is a mis-sell because the information they are keying in on your mileage is not accurate and mileage is what tends to ensure the annual premiums/costings are correct and the extra 1000 mileage could potentially mess up your renewal for the following year if they have put 1000 extra on the papers and you forget that and switch provider and you are putting your mileage in more that it actually should be. Perhaps they should have gave you a discount as opposed to extra mileage and with regards to the mileage keyed in at their end it should perhaps be as near to what you anticipate to do.

Also the FSCS and ombudsman tend to focus on if you need the product and if you understand the product. Do you have the technicalities of the product explained to you in full and understand them when you bought the plan and do you understand the technicalities on the changes on them giving you an extra 1000 miles?

Hope this helps

rs65

caliew wrote: »

Also the FSCS and ombudsman tend to focus on if you need the product and if you understand the product.

Do you actually know what the FSCS and FOS do?

agrinnall

caliew wrote: »

Hi, I have worked in insurance for a number of years and have just left due to childcare reasons.

I am getting very tired of reading this at the start of every one of your posts. It's already been suggested by another poster that you put it as a signature if you feel it adds to your credibility, although I think you should also include a disclaimer about the accuracy of your post given that you have already demonstrated some pretty startling errors (the SORN insurance thread being the prime example).

System

caliew wrote: »

Hi, I have worked in insurance for a number of years and have just left due to childcare reasons. How do they get their readings do you have a telematics box installed? Most underwriters tend to get their annual mileage readings from telematics or utmost good faith from the consumer. If for example you said you are doing 5000 per annum and you write down your annual mileage at the start of the cover and it turned out you were getting very close before the cover ran out perhaps call the insurer and they do the recalculation if the method was done on utmost good faith.

I haven't stumbled across the method you are using before unless its done via a telematics box then that is understandable, but then getting a calculator and manually keying the information when the system goes down I expect is time consuming on your part and on the providers part. You also may want to check with the Insurance Ombudsman or FSCS regulators if by the company offering an extra 1000 miles is a mis-sell because the information they are keying in on your mileage is not accurate and mileage is what tends to ensure the annual premiums/costings are correct and the extra 1000 mileage could potentially mess up your renewal for the following year if they have put 1000 extra on the papers and you forget that and switch provider and you are putting your mileage in more that it actually should be. Perhaps they should have gave you a discount as opposed to extra mileage and with regards to the mileage keyed in at their end it should perhaps be as near to what you anticipate to do.

Also the FSCS and ombudsman tend to focus on if you need the product and if you understand the product. Do you have the technicalities of the product explained to you in full and understand them when you bought the plan and do you understand the technicalities on the changes on them giving you an extra 1000 miles?

Hope this helps

Thanks for your response - and to others as well. The mileage information is transmitted from the car's built in telematics direct to the manufacturer and then on to their insurance partner. The problem is two-fold: one, the raw data is in kms and not miles and, two, there is a person in the loop. After a pleasant exchange of e-mails, I am told that the Underwriters can now see that there is an issue that they need to sort out. My car is an EV and I suspect that not many owners have bought into this particular insurance product. I could, of course, just do the sums myself but a key part of the offer is the monthly mileage statement , and the fact that insurer is monitoring usage to enable them to recommend when it might be wise to switch to an unlimited mileage product. Rather than 'faff about' with extra miles for the reasons that you have given, the insurer has now offered a small payment to recompense me for calls etc, and has given an undertaking that they now know what is needed to put matters right.

There are advantages in me staying with them as my insurers: one, the FlexiMile premium is considerably less per year than an unlimited milage product, and cheaper than other insurers. Saga, god bless them, wanted £430 per year more! When I asked 'why', I was told that 'its because the car doesn't have an engine'. It was showing 0 HP on his screen. The other advantage is that all recoveries and repairs will be carried out by a manufacturer's approved bodyshop.

http://telematicsnews.info/2014/07/22/allianz-partners-with-bmw-for-flexi-mile-telematics-insurance_ju5223/

Having posted the above, I can well hear people shouting that 'this is a MoneySaving Forum'. My response to that is:

One year of ownership; 4500 miles driven and total running costs (Road Tax, ChargeNetwork RFID Cards and power) = £101.97

rs65

Sounds like you have decided to stay with them at renewal. At least they have acknowledged the problem, if not going as far to guarantee it will be fixed.

Wouldn't it be easier to leave the monthly readings in kms and convert the annual limit to kms?

rs65

Hengus wrote: »

One year of ownership; 4500 miles driven and total running costs (Road Tax, ChargeNetwork RFID Cards and power) = £101.97

Out of interest, what's the service interval and how much is a service?